At present, Meta Universe is still in the conceptual stage, and it is necessary to continue to improve related infrastructure, try new investment models, promote online gatherings, and strengthen the circulation of Meta Universe.
Written by: BlackFever
The concept of Metaverse has gradually gained popularity and has become the focus of recent discussions in the blockchain industry. This report will deeply analyze the development trend of the meta universe from the perspective of the concept of meta universe, the analysis and insights of existing meta universe products, and meta future predictions.
Meta-universe definition
The concept of Metaverse was first proposed by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his book “Avalanche” in 1992. Its English prefix Meta refers to super and big, and the suffix verse is the same as universe, that is, another world, which is enough to show that the concept of meta-universe can encompass the vast and far-reaching goal of the universe. At present, the mainstream definition emphasizes that Metaverse is a networked virtual reality. People behave as “avatars” designed by themselves, engaging in secular and extraordinary activities. Just like in a game, people live and control the characters that move in the space. Through technology, such as AR and VR, 5G and artificial intelligence autonomous generation technology, wearable supporting hardware facilities, etc., users of Metaverse can create new universes and civilizations. At the same time, Metaverse is also called “Internet 3.0” or “Post-Internet Era”, which means that the virtual world is about to become the “parallel universe” of the real world. Data, digital objects, content, and IP can all pass in the meta universe. The meta universe is not an independent world, but a world that is closely connected and complementary to the real world. In the virtual world with perfect infrastructure, people can realize personal and social needs such as identity, currency transactions, community belonging, and career development in an all-round way, just like the real physical world. Similar to the movie “Avatar”, in addition to eating and sleeping, the protagonist can enter another world by wearing a helmet at other times. Unlike the alien civilization in the movie, the world of the meta universe is virtual, artificially constructed, real-time, and tradable.
The elements that make up the meta universe include: complete technological support (5G, VR, AR), a powerful technology network equipped with blockchain technology, and a digital currency economic system based on blockchain. Metaverse needs to include network computing power, artificial intelligence, game technology, visualization technology (AR, VR), and blockchain technology (to ensure the stability and transparency of the economic system through smart contracts and decentralized settlement platforms). The “meta universe” value chain includes user experience discovery; creator economy; spatial computing; decentralization; human-computer interaction; and infrastructure. It is a decentralized future that requires creators and users to build together. To put it simply, a true meta-universe product should have the following eight elements: identity, friends, immersion, low latency (everything in the meta-universe happens simultaneously), landing anywhere, economic system, and civilization.
Analysis of existing meta universe products
ARK Investment Fund research shows that Meta Universe’s revenue will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17% from the current US$180 billion to US$390 billion in 2025. The mature meta-universe, under the unified universe, can satisfy users to complete all the same social, entertainment and other attributes as the real world.
However, the tolerance between various products needs to be improved, and the existing meta-universe products are not yet regarded as meta-universe in the true sense. At present, meta-universe product applications in various fields are more to create their own small meta-universes, and the connectivity between the various universes is not enough to provide users with a convenient experience that comes and goes freely. As shown in the figure below, various fields in the market are currently trying to outline the meta-universe’s grand plan and gradually deploy the meta-universe ecosystem. Involved in the scope of the mechanism, decentralized infrastructure, cloud storage and other aspects. It is worth mentioning that, given that the concept of Metaverse is still relatively new, Metaverse projects currently on the market cover many fields, but they are still in the stage of exploration and development and the scale is not yet mature.
Among them, the virtual game field under the meta-universe ecosystem is far ahead, and various meta-universes have gradually formed. It is reported that the global virtual game market is estimated to be as high as about 200 billion in 2025. The rapid increase in the market value of the virtual game market and the increasing maturity of blockchain technology make blockchain games a platform for the realization of the meta-universe. In the game world, users can realize the construction and participation of meta-universe by participating in the game. The currently deployed Metaverse fully satisfies user-generated content (UGC) and the use of digital currency to trade virtual goods. The following seven more mature meta-universe products stand out from many competitors and gradually build a unique meta-universe model.
Roblox
Roblox is a massively multiplayer online game creation platform, with the creation of mini-games as the core, providing players with 3D digital world clients, developers providing Roblox Studio toolsets, and Roblox cloud services. Users can obtain Robux, also known as r-coins, by purchasing or creating games. The economic system built by Roblox connects content producers and content consumers. It will be the interpersonal relationship in the real society, projected in the virtual world. Roblox claims to provide players with multiple super digital scenarios such as parkour, simulation management, survival challenges, open world, etc., and use online virtual digital content to expand social needs in the real world.
Roblox successfully logged onto the New York Stock Exchange under the concept of “Meta Universe” in March. The market value of Roblox broke US$40 billion on the first day of listing, and Roblox’s market value increased by as much as 10 times in one year. The main income comes from the virtual currency Robux. Users purchase virtual currency to experience the games produced by the developers on the platform. After that, the company will share with the developers based on indicators such as in-game purchases and game duration. Last year, Tencent invested 150 million US dollars in the “Roblox” G round of financing, and set up a joint venture with “Roblox” in Shenzhen. On July 13, “Robless” was officially opened on all platforms. Support Android and IOS login ( official link ).
MetaApp, a domestic mobile sandbox platform similar to Roblox, has received US$100 million from investment institutions including SIG Hainer Asia, Creation Partners CCV, Cloud Nine Capital, and Light Source Capital in its C round of financing.
Axie Infinity
Axie infinity During the epidemic, with the active participation of villagers in the Philippines, they discovered that they could exchange for virtual currency and real currency by confronting, raising pets, selling pets and props in the game.
The nature of blockchain games is similar to NFT (Non-Fungible Token), that is, using digital signature-like “non-fungible tokens”. In blockchain games, players trade signed items.
Although traditional online games may also have the concepts of “circle” and “community”, for example, the games and stories of “Animal Crossing Friends Club” take place on an island, and players can visit each other’s islands through the Internet, and can also trade. However, this kind of game based on a certain developer is non-decentralized, which means that players are controlled by centralized manufacturers to a certain extent. For example, once the rules are violated, they will be blocked or banned. But blockchain games are the opposite. The ownership of decentralized games is transparent and the source can be traced back. All transactions will be recorded one by one. Users have extensive autonomy by virtue of consensus contracts. In the decentralized blockchain world created by Axie infinity, users earn income by trading props.
The Sandbox Game
As a sandbox game, players can make games, create and trade digital assets. Through the VoxEdit editor, players can conduct asset transactions on the blockchain. Users use the native homogenized token SAND of the game platform to complete the game experience of creation, collection, earning, and governance. The platform has reached partnerships with many fields, such as the gaming company Galaxy Interactive under Mike Novogratz in technology and entertainment, the crypto exchange Gemini, the heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, and the NFT market Nifty Gateway.
Decentraland
Decentraland is a decentralized 3D virtual platform based on Ethereum. By connecting to the Ethereum wallet, users can enter the world of decentraland, browse and discover content, and interact with other users. Users can use the blockchain ledger to trade virtual land. The coordinates of the virtual land are displayed in rectangular coordinates, because the land owner can decide to set up different interactive methods just like controlling the practical land. Different from the stodgyness in the real world, the online virtual land design method can depict more vivid scenes through more diverse 3D, static, interactive installations, animation and other technologies.
Cryptovoxel
Cryptovoxel provides users with a platform to display existing NFTs. Players can sell personal encrypted NFT assets through online 3D art exhibits. The buyer can obtain a QR code for trading by clicking on the bottom of the exhibit picture. In addition to the online web terminal, Cryptovoxel supports VR technology. Users can log in through Steam, Vive and Oculus. With hardware technology, they can enter the virtual meta universe more intuitively.
My Neighbor Alice
My Neighbor Alice is a multiplayer construction game. Players can buy and own virtual islands in the game, collect and build interesting items, and meet new friends. Through economic behavior and social behavior, a meta-universe in the game is constructed. Last month, The Sandbox team and My Neighbor Alice reached a cooperation, and Alice NFT will soon join The Sandbox meta-universe.
Meta Network/ Instant
Meta Network is a Web 3.0 protocol and platform that helps creators create personal tokens. It uses social tokens to build meta universe and establish a public digital library. Third-party developers can develop various application scenarios based on personal tokens for creators based on the SDK provided by Meta Network. The social token protocol Meta Network main station “Shun” is now online in the DApp section. Users can use the social token “Fan ticket” in the DApp ecology section to realize task rewards, generate NFTs, conduct airdrops, cross-chain transmissions, conduct community voting and governance And provide third-party developer documentation and development tools. The first batch of 13 open decentralized applications, covering various fields, has built a relatively complete meta-universe basic setup for the Meta Network, and each class has its own role: the open and permanent digital work library “Shun Matataki”, the task reward platform “Matataki Quest”, simple airdrop tool “Matataki Airdrop”, location sharing & subscription “Cryptomeetup”, card game “Water Margin”, NFT generation and trading tool “Matataki NFT”, based on Fan votes and quadratic voting system Decentralized autonomous organization “Matataki DAO”, “Fan Ticket Mining”, “Matataki Governance Committee”, Uniswap-based trading tool “Fan Ticket Exchange Office”, cross-chain import and export tool “Fan Ticket Folding Door”, ” “Development Document” and Fan Ticket’s Developer Center “Develop Portal”. Meta Network has begun to deploy a comprehensive and complete meta-universe infrastructure, striving to be far ahead on the current track.
Application characteristics of existing Meta universe products
New financing methods, empowering individual participants
Meta Universe products and applications have brought new financing methods. Use decentralized blockchain technology to break the middlemen in various fields and directly contact buyers and sellers. Among them, the new economic mode in the field of art and games is the most typical.
In the application of Metaverse products, the important difficulty is how to define transaction behavior. It involves the common currency mechanism of multiple platforms and the update and iteration of the traditional “money-for-money” transaction method. Meta Universe is trying to create a new type of transaction method that can not only ensure the sustainability of decentralized online transactions, but also take care of the connectivity between the virtual world and the real world. In the virtual world, blockchain games empower users to own virtual products. For example: Cryptovoxel provides relatively complete supporting facilities for online virtual land asset auctions. In a blockchain airplane game made with the Cocos engine, the props in the game can be directly traded in real life or even in other games. Players in Fortnite (“Fortnite”) can even make money by auctioning their skins in the game. To a certain extent, the rights of individual players have been magnified. They no longer have to become krypton gold users, blindly brush money to game manufacturers, and are forced to watch advertisements.
In addition to game players, artists will become the most active group of users in the early meta universe. Thanks to the decentralization of the blockchain, online transactions guarantee the rights of artists to the greatest extent. The art platform SuperRare allows artists to sell tokenized digital art financing, and can permanently charge secondary market royalties. Such a business model guarantees the scarcity of digital products and benefits art creators a lot. The current reality model is difficult to protect art property rights in an all-round way. The blockchain technology has solved the worries about intellectual property issues, strengthened respect for art creators, and protected intellectual property rights to the greatest extent. Various fields are trying to create an exclusive meta-universe to promote the early popularization of the blockchain economy.
Early meta-universe exploration: complex and barbaric
At present, a variety of block products on the market are full of wilderness, especially in the game field. Starting from the obsessed cat of the first blockchain game, the transaction price of its most expensive creation cat was said to have been converted to a sky-high price of 770,000 yuan. Game developers have gradually smelled the high-speed monetization ability of blockchain games. There has been a trend of online currency exchange through games. For example, in the blockchain game “Ethereum Celebrity”, players purchase smart contracts from celebrities (such as Jay Chou, Di Lieba, etc.), claiming to be the uniqueness of ensuring that players have smart contracts. Players continue to trade contracts. Can be profitable. So players need to constantly change hands to get the most economic benefits. On another level, this is like a “hot potato” in the investment field. After all, no one knows who will be the next one to take over.
At present, the cost of developing Meta universe products is extremely low. For example, when the blockchain game was on fire in 2018, various game companies were keen to create their own games to get tickets to the meta universe. By “changing the skin” of an existing product and modifying the scene or code, a “brand new” entry-level meta-universe new product can be launched online within five days. However, such an attempt only applies to the early days when the meta universe has not yet fully formed. In order to snatch admission tickets, various companies have begun to show their talents. The problem is that Meta Universe can’t be completed by only relying on a certain product. In the middle, it needs support from various aspects such as the coordination between platforms and the integrity of cross-chain services. This also accelerates the rise of the current platform-based Meta Universe.
Meta universe based on platform
Before Meta Universe was really formed, major companies began to deploy Meta Universe related products. Some companies are committed to promoting their own blockchain game applications, trying to lead users into the small meta universe belonging to their respective platforms. For example, Baidu’s Letz Dog is bound to Baidu Wallet, and NetEase Planet also guides players to use “NetEase Cloud Classroom”. Some companies have begun to prepare for the infrastructure of Metaverse from all aspects. Tencent’s concept of “True Internet” and investment in sandbox game company Roblox’s project, ByteDance invested in game company code Qiankun, and Microsoft not only has a layout in software, but also developed AR/VR hardware such as HoloLens equipment. The veteran game development company Epic announced in April this year that it has received 1 billion U.S. dollars in financing for the development of the meta universe business; Facebook not only deployed the VR headset Oculus, but also launched the beta version of the new VR social platform Horizon; Tencent invested in Roblox, holding 40% of Epic’s shares. It can be seen from this that various large companies are trying to form their own virtual worlds and get a place in the meta-universe track.
Maintenance of the meta universe: governance system and on-chain organization
In the long run, Metaverse needs to maintain infrastructure at distributed network nodes, and maintain and update products through decentralized governance methods, establishment of foundations or on-chain organizations and other channels. Taking Decentraland and its core products Builder, SDK, Marketplace and World as examples, the Decentraland DAO and Decentraland Foundation have been established successively to promote the maintenance of the decentraland meta-universe through collective decision-making. Decentraland DAO can determine product revision intentions through public opinion surveys and other methods. The foundation is responsible for dealing with problems that the DAO cannot solve. It owns assets including intellectual property rights, codes, social media accounts, and is not responsible for the founding team. Decentraland is trying to build a decentralized cooperation model that assists and cooperates with each other through the foundation and DAO. Similar DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), and MetaDAO under MetaverseLabs, are spontaneously composed of artists, architects, programmers, blockchain enthusiasts, and game enthusiasts, hoping to attract those interested in Metaverse man of. At the same time, MetaDao does not limit its gaze to a certain meta-universe. In addition to Decentraland, it also creates a group space in Cryptovoxels. Participated in creative competitions and won prizes in the Sandbox.
Future Application Possibility and Market Prediction of Meta Universe
Getting started in the field of art and games
Meta Universe will take the fields of art, games, and music as the first key to open the door to a new world. Artists will create a more complete ecosystem through the sale of artworks through the use of blockchain technology and digital loans. At the same time, it will promote the NFTization of traditional industries. For example, NBA Top Shot sells pictures of basketball stars as NFT products to make money. Players in the game field will also use digital loans to exchange materials for virtual property transactions, forming a meta-universe in the game field. What’s interesting is that the two can be combined. The current blockchain game already supports the purchase of NFT products placed in the game in advance by connecting to the blockchain wallet in the game. As the scale expands and the number of users increases, a trans-regional meta-universe will be formed. More and more fields are beginning to join the meta-universe of the blockchain. For example, music distribution platforms such as Opulous support music copyright NFT transactions and become the world’s largest digital record distribution company.
At present, various meta-universe products are in droves, and developers are beginning to incorporate various elements and concepts. This week, the industry’s focus is on an NFT game called “All War Three Kingdoms”. The background of the game refers to the Three Kingdoms competition in Chinese history, integrating blind boxes, machine gun pools, NFT coin locks, game mining, etc. The current popular gameplay. As BabyHusky’s first Dapp, “All War Three Kingdoms” has designed an ingenious economic cycle system. Users can continue to deflate and collect NFTs into the economic system by mining, burning coins, and NFTs to enter the economic system, that is, the machine gun pool is used to introduce External funding. This recyclable economic system, dependent on the background of the Three Kingdoms and rich characterization, constructs a meta universe through social coins. This game is the first successful attempt of Chinese historical materials in the history of blockchain, and the highly anticipated meta universe project. It opened the NFT meta universe business on July 15th. The number of community actives exceeded 5000 and the number of coin holding addresses More than 1500.
At the same time, there are also many NFT projects and games. Although there is no special emphasis on the meta-universe in the game, they are equipped with cross-chain NFT and DeFi protocols and other necessary core technologies of the meta-universe, such as Defi-DEGO built in the form of Lego, and farm-based games. Mobox, pet raising game Battle Pets, Ethereum-based RPG battle game My Crypto Heroes and other projects have attracted the attention of the market. To a certain extent, behind each project, there is the potential to become a member of the meta-universe, depending on For the long-term development and planning positioning of the project.
Solve the support of infrastructure and hardware
The concept of Metaverse is still in its infancy, and its important AR, VR, and even the most basic cross-chain technology of the blockchain have not yet matured. Therefore, the hardware infrastructure required for the development of Metaverse is not yet fully equipped. For example, if you want to use VR technology to open the door of Metaverse, before VR technology is widely popularized, it is necessary to solve the current high price of VR products and poor user experience in advance. Secondly, Metaverse needs support from other fields. For example, Metaverse games need a large, high-speed server that is stable and capable of hosting multiple players, supporting multiple devices, and multiple operations (payment systems). For example, this week, Axie has nearly 500,000 daily active users, but due to server hosting and other issues, occasionally there will be freezes or poor user experience. At the same time, when Metaverse conducts economic activities similar to traditional business, such as buying nft, renting and selling real estate, how to draw up contracts and reach consensus will have a new definition. Therefore, the market’s attention in the future will gradually focus on the areas of support for Metaverse, such as the maturity of VR, servers, and blockchain cross-chain technology. For example, Snapchat is committed to the development of avatar design, and Genies is based on expression formulation. The emergence of this kind of APP meets the needs of all dimensions required by the metaverse. Therefore, in the future, the improvement of services and infrastructure in multiple fields and various circles will complement and develop together with the gradual improvement of Metaverse itself.
Exploring new investment methods
In the future, for blockchain games and online nft transactions, there will be economic behaviors for different links. Taking Axie Infinity as an example, all actions of users after purchasing Axie can create new industries and business models. For example, collecting auction transaction fees, transaction fees, reproduction fees, etc. Currently, Axie’s transaction fee is 4.25%, and in November last year, US$250,000 was flown into the vault. Such a business economic model can also help the game attract more players to enter, while also providing power for game players. Traditional game developers create games for players to play, and become a model in which players can supervise game development. Once there is a problem with the operator, game players can alliance and sell the loan currency together to fight back. In addition, there is also the Yield Guild agreement union to accumulate rare NFTs and players, and send them to the game to make profits. The income will be automatically distributed to the union members through the YGG agreement.
The cooperation mode between NFT and physical artwork and physical artwork has been opened. Asia’s largest NFT digital art platform, Cryptoart.ai, joined hands with Shanghai Golden Harvest Auctions Co., Ltd. to exhibit Yayoi Kusama’s two masterpieces, Infinite Net (1959, c1979) and Infinite Net (MGPP). This kind of cooperation solves the difficulties of authenticity verification of traditional artworks. Through blockchain encryption technology, the traditional art appraisal process is changed to record and retain historical documents, which has set off an innovation in the field of art authenticity verification. Yayoi Kusama’s first NFT exhibition was held at the Shanghai Himalayas Art Museum on July 15th. A special conference was held at the Shanghai Himalaya Art Museum. Guests and scholars from different fields in the industry were invited to discuss physical art through a roundtable seminar on “Mutual Understanding of Values” Cooperation with NFT technology.
At present, StarryNift, the most anticipated meta-universe gamification NFT platform, has received strategic investments from many investment institutions including Monday Capital, Sparkland Capital, and Blockwall Capital, as well as Bitmain co-founder Wu Jihan. The platform encourages users to create and auction NFTs in Metaverse, which will bring new opportunities for NFT games and distribution.
Promote online social networking and gatherings
The new crown epidemic has made it impossible for people to contact offline, which has promoted the online gathering of Metaverse to a certain extent. The platform provided by Meta Universe allows people to avoid the differences of geography and time, and complete the gathering in the virtual world through the online platform. For example, the 2020 Crypto World Conference Coinfest is held on decenraland, and the online exhibition “Xiangjian Chinese Thought Exhibition” opened by the China Academy of Art this year. Next, I will talk about more organizations and institutions that will begin to use blockchain-based meta-universe services, and will gradually pay attention to offline party activities online. There are already existing forms such as art exhibitions, concerts, graduation ceremonies, etc. In the future, more groups will gradually become accustomed to the mode of online gatherings. These users may not have direct access to the core of blockchain technology at first, such as using blockchain wallets or buying loan coins, but the form of completing real-world gatherings in the virtual meta-universe will gradually become popular with people. The large-scale blockchain economic activities have laid the foundation for popularity.
Connection between different universes
Users in the meta universe can freely shuttle between any scenes and platforms. However, there is currently a lack of a mature decentralized identity system. Metaverse users need to have one or more ID cards to record all online behaviors. Users can not only use the identity in a meta-universe to complete social, commercial and other behaviors, but it is best to shuttle between meta-universes to add a touch of authenticity to the virtual world. We can already see, for example, the cooperation between The Sandbox and My Neighbor Alice. Different meta-universes have begun to seek symbiosis. How the existing multiple meta-universes can be connected technically, realize mutual tolerance, and seek common ground while reserving differences. It will become the focus of the market’s next step.
Concluding remarks
Although the current meta-universes in the fields of art, games, etc. have begun to emerge, the current meta-universe is still in the stage of forming only a concept. In the future, the meta universe will become the homeland of mankind’s entrusted spirit, just like the movie “Number One Player”, the virtual online world becomes the parallel universe of the real world. However, it will take at least several decades from now to the day when the meta universe is truly realized. During this period, humans need to solve the problems of the maturity of blockchain technology, the running-in between the meta-universe, and the communication between various fields and industries.
In view of the status quo and decentralization of Metaverse, blockchain stakeholders in various fields need to continue to explore the field of “stepping bricks” and continue to make breakthroughs in the fields of art and games. At the same time, improve the relevant infrastructure, try new investment models, promote online gatherings, and strengthen the circulation of the meta-universe. The layout of the meta universe requires three steps. The first step is to improve the required infrastructure, including hardware (for example: VR, AR, servers) and strengthen the blockchain decentralization technology (for example: to ensure cross-chain stability). The second step is to implement and improve various support areas, such as the sense of reality and immersion of digital identity; to lay the foundation for the third step to attract users to be used to activities in the meta universe on a large scale. In the long run, the meta-universe is like a beam of light from afar, leading the future of mankind. With the bridge of blockchain technology, people will witness the arrival of the meta-universe faster.
